Health

Bolivian hemorrhagic fever - El Beni Department, Bolivia, 1994

Article Abstract:

An outbreak of Bolivian hemorrhagic fever in northeastern Bolivia in 1994 may illustrate the need for further study to characterize the mode of disease transmission. The Machupo virus, the virus that causes Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, is usually transmitted from rodents to humans by aerosolized rodent urine. In the summer of 1994, seven members of a family in Magdalena, Bolivia, developed fever, low blood pressure, bleeding from the eyes, gums and nose, a rash caused by minute hemorrhages in the skin, tremor, and difficulty speaking. Laboratory tests confirmed diagnoses of Bolivian hemorrhagic fever. Six family members died from the infection. In August and September of 1994, three people who were unrelated to this family also developed Bolivian hemorrhagic fever. To identify the source of infection, investigators trapped 84 rodents in areas that were frequented by members of the infected family. None of these rodents had antibodies to the virus that causes Bolivian hemorrhagic fever.

Publisher:American Medical AssociationPublication Name:JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical AssociationSubject:HealthISSN:0098-7484Year:1995

Bolivia, Hemorrhagic fever, Hemorrhagic fevers

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Outbreak of Ebola viral hemorrhagic fever - Zaire, 1995

Article Abstract:

An investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization found 86 lethal cases in the 93 suspected cases of ebola viral hemorrhagic fever in Zaire from May 6 to May 17, 1995. In April, a hospital laboratory technician in Kikwit, Zaire, who displayed symptoms of bloody diarrhea and fever was operated on for a possible perforated bowel. Within a few days of surgery, medical personnel developed the same symptoms. Samples from 14 people processed by the CDC tested positive for the Ebola antigen and antibody. Gene sequencing showed the virus was related to the Ebola virus responsible for an outbreak in Zaire and Sudan in 1976. Laboratory workers in Marburg, Germany were infected with viral hemorrhagic fever in 1967 from imported monkeys from Uganda. Symptoms start with headache, chills, rashes, fever and fatigue, progressing to diarrhea, vomiting and sharp abdominal pain.

Publisher:American Medical AssociationPublication Name:JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical AssociationSubject:HealthISSN:0098-7484Year:1995

Congo (Kinshasa)

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Outbreak of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever--Uganda, August 2000-January 2001

Article Abstract:

Between August, 2000 and January, 2001, 425 people became infected with the Ebola virus in Uganda. About half died overall, but the mortality rate among children below the age of 15 years was 80%. This is the largest known Ebola outbreak.

Publisher:American Medical AssociationPublication Name:JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical AssociationSubject:HealthISSN:0098-7484Year:2001